Abstract

Information gained during goal pursuit motivates adaptive behaviour. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) supports adaptive behaviour, but how ACC signals are translated into motivational signals remains unclear. Rats implanted in the ACC and ventral tegmental area (VTA), a dopaminergic brain area implicated in motivation, were trained to run laps around a rectangular track for a fixed reward, where each lap varied in physical effort. Partial directed coherence analysis of local field potentials indicated strong ACC-driven increases in VTA theta (4-12 Hz) power as well as elevated running speed as rats entered the effort-containing region of the maze on trials when the effort was absent. No increases were detected on effortful trials. These data suggest that ACC provides a top-down modulating signal which can influence the motivation with which to pursue a reward. We discuss several interpretations and conclude that our findings are, perhaps, a neural correlate of relief.